Some cool science apps that recently came to our attention…
Junior Astronaut – Breaking Through the Space Barrier
This is an app somewhat reminiscent of Bobo Explores Light, except that this one explores the science of motion and forces. In Junior Astronaut, children are taught:
- The early development of rockets and gunpowder
- Air resistance, drag and aerodynamics
- Mass, weight and gravity
- Actions and reactions
- Forces and their effects
Junior Astronaut Features:
- Written, designed and illustrated for the iPad
- 28 interactive scenes, each hand-crafted to tell the story of man’s greatest achievement
- Original artwork by British illustrator Chris Madden
- Original music featuring real space communication recordings!
- Readers learn through interacting with the content as opposed to just listening or reading
- No third-party advertising
See the preview:
Where to get it
Unfortunately, Junior Astronaut is currently only available for the iPad and may be purchased from the iTunes store for only $2.99.
Toca Lab
Created by Toca Boca – a company that should be familiar if your child has played Toca Builders, Toca Lab offers children an opportunity to explore all 118 elements from the periodic table by experimenting with lab tools. Children can:
- Take an element for a spin in the centrifuge
- Warm elements up in the Bunsen burner
- Put the element on ice with the cooling agent
- Add a drop or two of mysterious liquids from the test tubes
- Change their voltage and make them magnetic with the oscilloscope.
Each element has it’s own personality and it’s up to the children to find out more about them. With Toca Lab, they can find out interesting facts, like:
- What does Neon sound like?
- Is Gold heavy or light?
- Is Nitrogen squishy or hard?
Children can safely explore, inspect, and study each element to learn about their properties as they play and have fun.
Watch the preview:
Where to get it
Toca Lab is available from:
About Toca Boca
Toca Boca is a game studio that makes digital toys for kids. They believe that playing and having fun is the best way to learn about the world so they make digital toys and games that help stimulate the imagination. Through their games, they provide parents opportunities to play and learn alongside their children. Toca Boca prides themselves in providing apps that do NOT contain any third-party advertising or in-app purchases – so what you see is what you get.
Kid Science
Kid Science offers a series of science apps published by Selectsoft that are like a collection of science experiment books on your android:
- Amazing Human Body
- Physics Experiments
- Gross Science
- Frog Dissection
- Biology Experiments
- Chemistry Experiments
- Nature Experiments
- Worm Dissection
Watch the videos, learn the science, conduct the experiments, then answer the quiz to see how much you’ve learned…
Where to get it
Each app is only available on Android for $2.99 each.
KidScience Premium
Apple users fear not. This is an alternative app you can consider which is also like an experiment book in the form of an app. They also have video lessons and experiment instructions…
Features:
Search for experiments based on:
- What you have on hand (Got milk? Food coloring? You can do an experiment.)
- Age of scientist (2 to 92)
- Time available (5 minutes? Half an hour? Two days? You’ve got time!)
- Type of science (Physics, Biology, Chemistry… try them all!)
KidScience Premium provides watch-and-do photos and videos that make it easy to follow step-by-step instructions for real science experiments. Simple explanations of the science behind the fun are included with each experiment. You can even make a shopping list if you don’t have everything you need for a project.
The KidScience app will be continually updated with new experiments so you won’t run out of experiments to try.
This app is available from the iTunes store for $4.99.
See Also: More educational apps
Nurture for the Future 